This post may contain affiliate links, which means I shall receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read the full disclosure statement for more information.
Citizens of the Republic,
We live in a divided world – which has negatively impacted everything from our personal relationships to our relationships in the workplace. See, “Not the Enemy. Not the Other.”
So, is there a remedy? Is there a way for us to reframe the conversation? Is there a way for us to seek out compromise? Balance? How can we find the elusive middle ground?
It begins with an investigation into the meaning of virtue – and finding balance in our daily lives.
In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle defined virtue as:
“Virtue then is…a middle state between too faulty ones, in the way of excess on one side and of defect on the other: and it is so moreover because the faulty states on one side fall short of, and those on the other exceed, what is right, both in the case of the feelings and the actions; but Virtue finds, and when found adopts, the mean.”
See, Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics, Book II, Chapter VI.
By way of example, Aristotle discusses in the Ethics how excesses or deficiencies can impair the health of the human body:
“…for excessive training impairs the strength as well as deficient: meat and drink, in like manner, in too great or too small quantities, impair the health: while in due proportion they cause, increase, and preserve it.”
See, Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics, Book II, Chapter II.
Therefore, for Aristotle, virtue is a mean condition/ an intermediate condition between excess and deficiency (or alternatively, between two polar extremes), which makes sense to us in the example, referenced above. For, while I am not a medical professional, please see my disclaimer, it makes sense in our own personal experience, that too little exercise can be deleterious to our health, just like too much exercise. Alternatively, eating too much can negatively impact our health, just like eating too little.
Finding balance is critical in our daily lives. Appropriate levels of exercise, sleep, and nutrition not only affects our output and overall performance but our ability to cope with life’s daily stressors and function alongside our peers.
In contrast, if you are living out of balance, not getting enough exercise, sleep, and nutrition, not only is your health negatively affected but those who operate around you are negatively affected by your poor state of health.
Whilst this discussion focuses on the microlevel (how we interact as human beings individually) it can also be applied on a macrolevel (how we operate as a company, city, country, etc.)
If you are interested in learning more about Aristotle’s definition of virtue and how it can be used to reframe the conversation on polarization, so that we, as a society can find balance (i.e., a healthy state of being), please check out my talking points on the subject: “Taking on Polarization: Moderately.”
Content Disclaimer: This post may link to publicly available materials, facts, figures, or statistics, from outside sources. These links are provided as a courtesy to the reader and to give credit to the source that provided this material to the public. The use of such materials, facts, figures, and statistics, by the author of this post, should in no way be construed as an express or implied endorsement by these sources of the contents of this post. The opinions and interpretations regarding those materials expressed herein are solely that of the author, James Miller, President, Citizen of the Republic, LLC.
Credits: The author would like to thank Project Guttenberg for making these linked works available to the public – and encourages the reader to support Project Guttenberg. The author provides the following sentence pursuant to Project Guttenberg’s licensure statement: This eBook [The Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle] is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
© 2021 James Miller, President & Founder, Citizen of the Republic, LLC. All rights reserved.
